What he was actually saying is that builders will be fined for creating low-paying jobs.

As with any type of business activity, if it’s taxed (which is what the fee is) there will be less of it. Implement the fee and there won’t be jobs for the beneficiaries of the low-income housing.

I am by no means heartless about this. Everyone should have the opportunity for a job and a home. Stifling economic growth will deny the opportunity to many of our fellow citizens.

Randy Stage

Pacific Beach

A government reg to hurt business

Regarding “Fee hike for affordable housing funding OK’d” (Nov. 22), is that what’s called an oxymoron?

Such costs are passed on to the citizen/consumer like any enterprise. Certain City Council members should acknowledge that a business collects money with one hand and pays bills with the other — costs go up, so do prices.

In the long run, consumers and taxpayers pay for everything. If business, the middleman, can’t compete they shut down or move on. Such heavy-handed government edicts do not work because they defy economic logic.

Jack Moore

Lemon Grove

Students raise awareness of orcas

The budding filmmakers from Point Loma High School should be lauded for voicing their concerns over SeaWorld’s circus treatment of orca whales (“Teens lauded for short video about SeaWorld’s orcas,” Nov. 21).

Whether people agree with the questions the students raise in their short video, “Dear SeaWorld,” or the statements and evidence presented in the documentary “Blackfish,” both films raise our awareness and compassion for the dangers faced by the SeaWorld trainers, which may result from the loss of freedom and dignity of the orcas.

While the company is appealing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s restrictions on direct interactions between humans and whales, one fact cannot be questioned: SeaWorld continues to force orcas to perform in captivity.

Ken Moser

San Diego

No laughs with cartoon

I had my heart restarted after medication didn’t help my heart flutter. The procedure is called cardioversion, and it uses electrodes on the chest and back to shock the heart to stop and then restart. In my case the fluttering returned after a week, and I needed more serious intervention.

Don Hicke

San Diego

Gray wolf should stay on endangered list

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a petition to remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List. This petition is motivated by greed and is merely a political favor to a small number of ranchers, many of whom already take advantage of our public lands to raise their livestock.